Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Posted on January 25, 2010 - by Mary

Welcome Remmy Rozland

As I’m writing this, I’m at the hospital hanging out with my new grand daughter, Remmy Rozland. She was born yesterday, January 24, 2010 at 8:39pm. She weighs 6lbs, 4 oz and is 18 inches long. She has a full head of dark, fuzzy hair and the cutest little nose I’ve ever seen. She was delivered c-section because she was breech. We weren’t expecting her until Feb. 1, but she had other ideas. Her mom started having mild contractions during church yesterday, so she called the doctor and after taking a hot bath with no reprieve, we decided to head to the hospital just to check things out, especially since we knew she was breech. Ashley was hooked up to the fetal monitor and it showed she was definitely having contractions, though they weren’t really hurting her too much. When they checked her cervix they discovered she was dilated to 3 centimeters and 80% effaced, so the doctor decided to go ahead and take her c-section. Here are some pictures of our beautiful new addition to the family.

Posted on December 14, 2009 - by Mary

It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Are you enjoying the Christmas season this year? If not, I hope you take some time to sit back and think about the reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; spend some time to spend with the ones you love; decorate your home and bake some Christmas cookies to give to friends and family; go drive around your neighborhood and look at Christmas lights; go Christmas caroling; build a snowman; or whatever you can to get in the Christmas spirit.

Well now that I’ve given my advice to help you get in the Spirit of Christmas, my whole point of this post was to let you know what we’ve been doing so far. This is the first year in a very long time that I’ve actually felt like we’ve done more “Christmassy” things than just decorate, bake, shop and wrap presents.

Last weekend, we went to the Holiday Open House in Petoskey and had a blast. We walked around downtown in the snow, listened to the Petoskey Steel drum band play, drank some hot chocolate, at the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had and took some photos.

Then this past Friday was our Youth Leadership Christmas Party. It was a ton of fun with good food, Euchre and Silly Santas! 

Saturday was my hubby’s birthday, so we went to my oldest daughter’s house for dinner and cake and ice cream. But before we had the cake and ice cream, we went to a Benefit Concert for the Otsego Christian School given by Only 9am. Only 9am is a band consisting of 4 siblings…and their family happens to attend our church. The concert was really great and really put me in the Christmas Spirit. Here is a video from the concert and below that are some photos from the weekend. Enjoy!

Posted on December 3, 2009 - by Mary

This Day in 1990

December 3, 1990 looked a lot like today…a fine, light snow falling, gray and Christmas lights beginning to appear on various houses throughout the area. Why do I remember this day so well? Because on this day in 1990 I gave birth to my 3rd child, Kaleb Lionel McNamara….and we have it on video….not the actual birth, but some before and lots after. We actually have a shot out the window before we left for the hospital.

Kaleb was always a late comer…my due date for him was actually November 19. He didn’t arrive for a full two weeks later, and we had to persuade him to come out…I was induced. So, at 6 or so in the morning, we left for the hospital. My doctor tried to get things going by trying to pop my water, but with no luck. She said the lining or whatever was thick and tough and wouldn’t break. Sounds alot like Kaleb!  If I recall correctly, I don’t think they gave me the induction drug until 1:00 in the afternoon or so. I think they were just trying to get me to go into labor naturally, but it just wasn’t going to happen for whatever reason. I think the contractions started pretty quickly after the Pitocyn (sp?) got in my system. At one point the nurse came in and checked my cervix and said I was dilated to 6 and if I felt the urge to push to call the nurse, but it should be for a while yet, since I was only dilated to 6. Well, of course, literally 5 minutes after she left, I got the urge to push. I thought it was weird, but went a head and called the nurse. She came in an checked, and sure enough I was dilated to 10. I went from 6 to 10 in 5 minutes! She got the doctor and he was born at 5:52pm. Purple as could be, which they said was due to my cervix opening so fast. He was my largest baby, weighing in at 8 lbs. 2 oz. All of my other kids were 7 lbs. 3 oz to 7 lbs. 10 oz.

Kaleb has the greatest personality you can imagine. He is funny, as in comedic, yet he also tells it like it is. If he doesn’t like something, oh you’ll hear about it, no holding  back, no beating around the bush.

Some of my favorite memories of Kaleb are:

• His birth…he was the shortest labor of all my kids…thanks Kaleb
• He learned how to ski at like 2 and has been fantastic at it ever since. He was the captain of the ski team at school his senior year. They took 3rd at the State finals that year.
• Kaleb learned to ride a bike at 2 years old, with training wheels, but by 3, they were off.
• He learned to play drums in 5th grade and has been playing ever since.
• Kaleb has great taste in music. He always makes me listen to bands with weird names like Incubus and Umphrey’s McGee…and I always end up liking it….not necessarily the lyrics, but their sound.
• Kaleb struggled in school due to ADHD, but he loves college. Interesting.
• He’s a cutie for sure…here are some photos for you to admire. But, sorry girls, he has a girlfriend!

Posted on November 12, 2009 - by Mary

26 Years Ago Today!

26 years ago today I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl, Trisha Marie. I wish my scanner worked so I could scan in some of her baby pictures, but it does not (Boohoo). However, here are some of my favorite memories and fun facts about Trisha.

• She was 2 days late and has been late for everything ever since. Yes, it is one of the things I love about her…we can count on her being late.
• She came out screaming and her voice has been heard ever since. She is strong and doesn’t take any bull from anyone.
• She began walking at 10 months old.
• One of her favorite foods is peanut butter, though I got sick on it when I was pregnant with her. Peanut butter pie is still her favorite dessert today.
• She learned to ski at like 3 or 4 years old.
• Trisha got glasses in 3rd grade.
• She broke her arm playing softball. I don’t remember what grade she was in but I think it was 4th.
• We used to fight a lot when she was growing up. She was is very strong willed, but now we get along very, very well.
• Trisha “went out” with Ben in the 8th grade. When they broke up she called me sobbing (I was at the hospital with my best friend who was having her first baby). I felt so bad for her, but I always knew she and Ben would get married.
• Trisha has always been great with kids. When she was in school, she was a TA, and the kids just loved her.
• She had a few nanny jobs in high school too.
• October 22, 2005, Trisha married Ben.
• September 3o, 2006 Ethan was born.
• September 11, 2008 Dylan was born.
• Trisha is an awesome mom, wife and child of God.

I love you Trisha, my firstborn! Happy Birthday!

Here are some photos I have on my computer. I really need to digitize my old ones.

Posted on October 30, 2009 - by Mary

Venting, Praying, Overwhelmed

I didn’t know what to title this post. I have some personal issues going on right now in my family and need lots of prayer. I’m feeling so overwhelmed right now by everything going in my families lives. I’m not normally a complainer, so if this is your first time reading, please don’t think all of my posts are vents. Actually very few are. I’m usually quite positive…I think.

I’m feeling so overwhelmed today because yesterday my son, who is an addict, went to jail and I am the one who sent him there this time. Addiction is a very strong force over someone and my son is right in the throws of his addiction to alcohol, pot and anti-anxiety meds. Basically anything he can get his hands on to get high, he will.

After getting sent home early from work yesterday, he struggled with me to get his pills from me. I warned him to take his hands off of me, and when he did not, I called 911. I was not hurt at all, but the point was I was not going to allow him to manhandle me like that. Plus, I know that I can no longer give him the help he needs. His issues are out of my hands, as I do not have the knowledge to provide the help he needs. So, please by praying for him, for us, and for the rest of the family, as this is just the beginning of a long, hard road.

I am also overwhelmed because in the midst of all of this, it seems as if our financial problems are piling higher and higher. Just as we got a little reprieve on our credit card payment (we worked out a deal with our creditor to lower our payment by $150 a month), we continue to have mounting medical bills and car issues. I just got the bill for some recent lab work at the tune of $17o or something like that, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re barely making ends meet as it is, $170 seems overwhelming. I’m sure we’ll be able to pay it in small chunks, but right now, it seems overwhelming because of everything else going on.

Our cars all need work and new tires before the snow flies, which could be any day now. One car is in the shop and thankfully we were blessed with some money to get it fixed. But, it still needs new tires. The car Karlie usually drives needs the lights fixed from her little fender bender a couple of weeks ago and the truck needs new wheel bearings. There are more things wrong with each of the vehicles, I just can’t think of them all right now.

I also found out some other stuff that I can’t go into any detail about right now, but God knows what it is, so if you could just pray for our family, that would be great.

Thanks for letting me vent and for your prayers. God bless you all my friends!

Posted on September 27, 2009 - by Mary

Weekend Retreat on Burt Lake

This weekend, Jeff and I were amazingly blessed to be able to stay at a beautiful lake house on Burt Lake in Indian River. A couple in our church owns the lake house and has allowed us to use it in the past for youth retreats and for other church work related stuff.

Last year we had the retreat the same weekend as this year, which happens to fall during the week of our anniversary. But this year, with the high school Homecoming dance and other events our youth leaders needed to attend, our retreat ended up being a great time to fellowship with each other on Saturday night. But, Jeff and I were blessed to be able to spend the weekend there, alone for most of the time, Friday through today.

It was so nice and relaxing. I don’t know what it is about being by the water, but I find it very peaceful and serene. When Jeff and I arrived Friday afternoon, our Youth Pastor and two other youth leaders were there, relaxing as well. We visited for a bit, then they left. It was dinner time, so Jeff and I headed into town and decided to hit a nice family pizzeria called Vivio’s. It was delicious! We ordered a large so we could bring some home for a snack or meal later.

After we ate, we went to the little grocery store and got some food for breakfast and lunch as well as some snack food. Then we headed back to the lake house and just chilled all evening. Some of my favorite things about the lake house are: the decor, the king size bed and of course the view. I’m not an interior decorator but I believe a good description would be traditional American. Lots of American symbols such as stars, red, white and blue, flags and such. There are even some antique decorations used as picture frames and plant stands. It’s very clean and not cluttered, which contributes to the peacefulness.

As for the bed, oh my! It is huge…to me anyway. We have a queen size bed, but there is such a difference between the size of a king and the size of a queen. They have a foam mattress on top of the regular mattress which makes for a very cushy, comfy nights rest.

As I mentioned earlier, when we arrived on Friday, there were other people there. One of those people is a little prankster and I should have thought she would play some practical joke on us. When Jeff pulled the quilt back on the bed, he noticed the bed was made weird. Neither one of us thought about the fact that our prankster friend would have done it. We just fixed the sheet and climbed in.

The next day, when everyone came over, she asked if we liked the sheets. Haha! I should have known she would do something to us. The bed didn’t have a blanket on it so it made it harder to disguise that she short sheeted the bed. Too funny.

Saturday evening all the youth leaders that could be there showed up between 4 and 6. We grilled burgers, had yummy cheesy potatoes made by my prankster friend (no she didn’t sabotage the potatoes), creamed corn, and apple crisp made from apples Prankster and her associate picked the day before. It was delicious!

There were two rounds of Euchre going on and I’m proud to say my team won 2 out of 3 games. We were supposed to play the winner of the other table, but because it was Prankster and our ADD/Sanguine Youth Pastor playing, they took like 2 hours to finish their 3rd game. By the time they were done, it was late and everyone was ready to leave. Oh well! It was still a ton of fun.

Jeff and I stayed up till like 12:30, me playing YoVille (of course) and Jeff was watching TV. We got up a little after 9:00 this morning, cleaned, packed and got ready for church. We finished the danish we got for breakfast and even had time to stop and get coffee on the way to church this morning.

After church we came home, had brunch and took a nap. It’s so funny how after such a relaxing weekend, all we wanted to do is relax some more. It’s hard to get out of that mode! Prankster and I were talking at church today about how we need a week at the lake house! That would be nice.

Jeff has been off all week using up his last little bit of vacation time for this year. Tomorrow he goes back to work on midnights so he is transitioning. He will be staying up all night tonight. I will stay up as late as I can, but I have a doctor’s appointment at 10:20 tomorrow…my yearly. Yuk.

Posted on September 24, 2009 - by Mary

Four Years of Wedded Bliss

September 23rd marks mine and Jeff’s 4th wedding anniversary. As I’m typing this, we are at the end of the day of our anniversary and Jeff is snoring on the couch. Now while we didn’t do anything “special” for our anniversary, we still had a great anniversary…I think so anyway.

Jeff and I spent the day the same as we always do on Wednesdays…at the church working on youth ministry stuff and getting ready for the Chosen Youth Conference. But, to be honest, the only thing I’d rather have done is to go away somewhere alone, nice and relaxing. Now, while that will happen this weekend (more on that in a sec) we did have a nice day today. Our youth pastor treated us to lunch and everyone wished us Happy Anniversary. We even had the chance to reminisce with the Associate Pastor of our church who married us.

This coming weekend we will spend somewhat alone, relaxing at a lake house on Burt Lake. Some of the other youth leaders will also be coming out at various times, with all of us meeting up for dinner on Saturday night.

As for the past four years…they have been awesome and I can’t imagine my life without Jeff. Jeff and I get along fabulously well, despite our financial struggles. We know God is pulling us through them and we are both feeling He is going to do something big in our lives soon.

Jeff is amazing. He is so helpful with the kids and does everything he can to meet their needs, as well as mine. He’s super patient and it takes a lot to stress him out. I’m really thankful for that because I am the opposite. I stress out easily, especially if we’re going to be late or I have a deadline coming up. So we balance each other out quite well, though we can get on each other’s nerves because of our different personalities…LOL.

We’ve never had a fight. Now before you freak out and think “oh no, they’re in trouble for sure”, let me explain. It’s not to say we’ve never disagreed on something or haven’t gotten on each other’s nerves (read above) we have and do. But, before we got married, we decided and determined that we’d talk about things and work it out. Now, while Jeff is great at talking about our issues and his feelings, I’m not so much. But the great thing about Jeff is that he’s good at getting me to talk about what’s going on inside and in my head. And once I do, I realize things aren’t so bad, and I relax and can begin to see the positive side of things.

It’s funny that I say all that because I am naturally a positive thinker and his personality type tends to be more on the negative side and his mind often goes to the worse case scenario. I guess now that I look at it, we help balance each other out when needed. I think that’s why we get along so well. It’s totally a God thing.

Five years ago when we started dating, both Jeff and I had previously finally learned to be content in our singleness. Jeff had never been married and I was single for several years after previously being married for my entire adult life. It’s funny how God moves when we learn to be content first, right where he has us at that moment.

When I take a look back throughout my life, I can see where this happened over and over. Without going into too much detail (since I’m getting off the topic of our anniversary) I see many areas where I was discontent and seemed to be always fighting and struggling, but as soon as I decided, no chose to be content where I was, it was then that God moved in my life.

Anyway, all this to say “Happy Anniversary MY Jeffrey Scott!” I love you and I would marry you all over again!